Not much happens on the first day of these negotiations; but it is interesting to see where the various players stake their ground in preparation for the impending discussions.

It was a bit amusing to see the performance of lead US representative, Harlan Watson, who is clearly phoning it in, well aware that the outgoing administration's presence is of little interest to the international community.  Nevertheless, there were some useful tidbits from his press conference:

- He "doubts there will be consensus" on emissions targets stemming from the Poznan talks.

-  When asked if the US delegation was working with Obama's transition team, Watson evaded the question and ultimately declined to commit to working with the transition.

-  When asked what positive contributions to international discussions the US has offered over the course of the Bush years, Watson pointed to Bush's convening of the leaders of the "major economies" last year--a move which many in the international community thought was a cynical bypassing of UN discussions.

From the European Union, French delegate Brice Lalonde tried to be diplomatic when asked how the EU will deal with negotiations during the US leadership interregnum, but admitted that they were "lacking an important negotiation team."  He did acknowledge the Congressional delegation that will be led by John Kerry suggesting that there will likely be some behind the scenes interactions.

German environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, was a bit more direct when he suggested that "many countries will hold back from making commitments" on binding emission reduction targets.

In addition to the official negotiations, the Poznan conference is marked by the presence of academics and civil society  groups who use the international attention to release research and reports on climate policy.  Given the fact that forestation/deforestation is going to be high on the agenda, a group of  conservation biologists released a study warning that forests will suffer under policies that promote biofuels. 

This is important because in the successor to Kyoto there will be pressure to expand projects whereby developed countries can purchase carbon offsets by financing projects in the developing world.  Already the amount of Western money pouring into some Asian countries to develop palm oil plantations--which could be defined as reforestation --is causing ecological problems.  Having a realistic view of biofuels will be important for developing effective policy.